On a cold, early-spring New York afternoon – with a penetrating wind as an unwanted bonus – the Rye boys rugby team beat Greenwich High School 24-19 on Tuesday. After starting the year with two comfortable wins, it was the type of game Rye (3-0) hadn’t experienced yet this season.
“Pressure,” said Rye coach Jim O’Hara. “It’s a good thing to feel in sports. You never know how you’re going to perform until you’re in it. Our boys stood tall today and handled that pressure pretty well.”
With the score tied at 19 late in the game, the temperature dropped, the pitch darkened, and a draw between two worthy sides looked imminent. Then suddenly, junior Rye lock Gavin Fitzpatrick burst through the Greenwich line with time nearly expired to score the winning try.
“We know these guys pretty well,” Rye senior center Connor Brady said of Greenwich. “It’s a good win for us, for our seniors for sure, but we know whenever we play Greenwich, we’re all going to be sore tomorrow.”
From the very beginning, the northern wind took a toll on both team’s kicking games. Rye began a series of first-half phases with the ball closer to the ground. Junior Jack Anderson broke off a series of driving runs, positioning his teammate, senior captain Archer Fenton, to score Rye’s first try of the half for a 7-0 lead.
After an Anderson try, Rye jumped out to a 14-0 lead as the clock wound down toward the intermission. But Greenwich prop Aidan Byrne lumbered his way across the try line seconds before the whistle to make it 14-7 at the half.
In the second half, Rye’s stalwart forwards Joey Cavatoni, Gavin Fitzpatrick, Owen Saya, and Patrick McGuire laid claim to the middle of the pitch. But Greenwich matched Rye’s power with another Byrne try with 28 minutes to go, cutting Rye’s lead to 14-12. When speedy Greenwich wing Mink Van Tuijl scored 10 minutes later, the Cardinals went ahead 19-14.
After Anderson’s second try of the game – and an errant Rye conversion – the game was knotted at 19 a piece with just over three minutes to play before Fitzpatrick came through in the clutch.
“When you can get your forwards and your backs bringing their strengths to a game, that’s when you start to believe you can be a pretty good team,” O’Hara said. “Our seniors led the way against a strong Greenwich squad late in that second half.”
With spring break coming up, Rye’s next game isn’t until April 26 at home against Play Rugby.
